The Cost of Freedom
by L.Medora
Summary: Warren escapes the space Navarog has trapped him in. After a visit with the fairy queen, he and his new companion must reach Fablehaven despite the dangers ahead. Meanwhile, things are stirring up back at the preserve...
1. Chapter 1

It had been nearly three months that Warren was trapped in the extra-dimensional space. Sure, he could survive for a few years in there and go crazy playing yhatzee with Budba, but he wanted to escape that fate as soon as possible.

But now he was feeling completely healed and ready to get out of the claustrophobic space. Looking around, he saw only one hope.

"Budba," he said. "Do you think I would be able to fit through those air vents?"

Budba looked up, uninterested and annoyed at being driven away from his game. "No. Too big. Should stop eating Budba's food."

"Where do suppose they lead?" Warren asked, ignoring Budba's comment.

"Budba don't know," he grumbled. "Budba no care."

"Thanks, big help," Warren muttered. He stood up and walked over to one of the barrels that stood beneath a vent.

He stood on top of the barrel and removed the vent cover. It took a lot of his still healing strength to hoist himself into the square space that was too small for wiggle room. Stretched in front of him was one long tunnel with another vent cover at the other end. A bright light shone through the other end, sparking hope in Warren's heart.

Squirming his way to the other end of the tunnel, Warren was able to push out the vent and drop to the ground on the outside.

He found himself in a beautiful field of bright flowers and green grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. There wasn't a single cloud in the deep blue sky.

"Hello?" he called out. But the only sound was the wind blowing through the grass. Not even a bird or an insect. "HELLO?!"

"Hello, Warren."

He whirled around and saw the woman sitting among the flowers. She was in her fifties with a wise look around her eyes. But if Warren had learned anything from the Sorensons in Fablehaven, it was to never underestimate older people.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Where are we?"

"You are in my home," she said. "I believe you used the magical handbag I sent to Kendra. A pity it was destroyed, but I believe it still has many uses."

She pulled up the old knapsack from the flowers and handed it to Warren. He opened the flap and saw the ladder leading down to the extra dimensional room. Potions and blankets were at the base, just where he had left them.

"How did you do that?"

"I created it myself."

"Who are you?" he asked again.

She smiled kindly. "I am the Fairy Queen."

Warren could only gape. it was a miracle he was still in one piece, according to the stories.

"You can relax, my boy," she said with a gentle smile. "I will not harm you."

"Why is that?"

"Because it is vital that you return to Fablehaven. There is a message I need you to deliver to your cousins."

"Kendra and Seth?" Warren guessed.

"Exactly. But getting there will be a great challenge, so one of my daughters shall accompany you. She will defend you with her life."

With a wave of her hand, a human figure sat up from the flowers. She had long black hair and a flowing white dress. A

large hood rested upon her head, creating a mysterious appearance. She reminded Warren of the fantasy characters from video games and movies.

"She's your daughter?" Warren asked critically.

"Don't let appearances deceive you," she warned. "Eden is a brave fighter and contains powerful magic."

"Forgive me for any skepticism; I've been cut off from people for a long time."

"Understandable. But you must hurry home. You will leave immediately, but first memorize this message."


	2. Chapter 2

Seth sighed and slumped over on the table. Kendra slowly churned the oatmeal in the bow in front of her. It seemed more often than not that she was out on a mission for the Knights of the Dawn. Whenever she was home she just moped around the preserve, depressing anyone in the same room for too long. The most Seth had ever seen her laugh or even smile for that matter, was when he and the satyrs made a show of tennis which usually ended in a tackling game.

"Do you wanna…play tennis?" Seth suggested.

"No thanks," she said quietly.

"We could ask Hugo to chuck us in the pool."

"Not today, Seth."

"Bug Nero?"

"I'll keep my head, thanks."

"Come _on_ Kendra!" Seth whined. "You've been no fun for months!"

"Well forgive me for being upset because two of my friends are dead!" she shouted.

"Hey, Warren's not dead," Seth argued. "There's still hope for him. Besides, it's not like its any of your fault. Navarog had us all fooled."

"Navarog was a friend I lost!" she screamed. "Way to show some sensitivity, Seth. Way to go."

She stormed out of the room, purposefully knocking over her bowl on the way. Seth heard Grandpa's study door open and close, then a loud conversation in the hallway.

"Why don't you ask Seth?!" Kendra said loudly. "He seems to be _such_ a great therapist today!"

Grandma and Grandpa ran into the kitchen and stopped in front of Seth.

"What just happened?" Grandpa demanded, thoroughly confused.

"I was just trying to make her feel better," Seth tried to explain. "I didn't mean to mention Gavin, it just happened!"

Grandpa slapped a disappointed hand to his head and Grandma closed her eyes, laying a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Seth, Kendra has survived more trauma since her eyes being opened to the real world than most of us," Grandma said quietly. "We all need to be more sensitive about that horrifying day."

Seth looked down, desperately wanting a change of subject. He felt guilty enough from the moment Kendra started yelling at him. Now the extra weight his grandparents were laying on him wasn't helping.

"Any word on my parents?" he asked quietly.

"No," Grandpa said gravely. He pulled out a chain and sat down. "It's as though the Sphinx and his goons disappeared off the face of the Earth. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do at the moment."

"I miss the days when you lied to protect me," Seth sighed. "At least then nobody would have died."

He stood up and walked out of the room. He stopped when he saw Kendra blocking the bottom step.

"I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that," she said almost silently. "I know you're just trying to help…pain in the butt style."

Seth smiled lightly and sat down across from her.

"You don't mean what you said just then," she told him. "You'd never be satisfied with the lies and you know it. Besides, a lot of good has come from us knowing the truth."

"Like what?" he challenged.

"You killed a revenant."

"Which I could have left alone since the Sphinx got the artifact anyway."

"The ghoul who came to my class."

"Put there because the Society knew how involved we were."

"We showed the Sphinx's true colors."

"Which started the domino effect of bad luck and people and creatures alike dying all around us."

"What about—no, Warren has bad luck all around. And we usually _do_ seem to be the root of it all…"

"Don't start listening to me; I'm usually wrong."

"Even?" Kendra asked with a smile that looked like Seth's sister.

"Even," he agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yes, the rating went up slightly. Sorry I haven't written anything for a while, but I'm trying to keep up. Remember, reviews=encouragement=motivation for writing XD.**

Warren had to run just to keep up with Eden's long strides. She didn't bother to check whether or not he was following. She only had her mother's orders and a focus like dogs on squirrels. She carried nothing with her, unlike Warren who needed to keep the knapsack with him at all times. He had opened the flap once to hear Budba singing his yhatzee happy dance song.

"Do you know how much further the border is?" he asked breathlessly. The world of the Queen apparently met with his own world at a boundary that would be entirely invisible.

"Fifty two yards West," Eden said effortlessly. "Are you tired?"

"No," he said quickly. "Just wondering."

"Mother told me you would be tired. Also that you would be ashamed of it." Just as the Queen had mentioned that Eden would be like a curious child since she knew nothing of the world or humans.

"Really, let's just keep going."

Eventually, all the pretty flowers and plants dispersed and they were left walking through a field on plain grass with weeds growing here and there. Warren felt slightly less excited about being out of the knapsack as a little chill ran down his spine. He looked back towards the Fairy Queen's world but saw that it had disappeared completely.

"Are we across the border?" he asked. Eden nodded. "Do you know where we are?"

"The border produces random positioning," she said. "We could be anywhere."

Warren remained silent for a while, focusing only on not being left behind. They soon found a dirt road that stretched out in a single direction, so they followed it. After what had to be three miles later, they saw road signs telling them that the nearest town was coming up. After three hours more, they reached the town and Warren thankfully accepted Eden's invitation to rest. They stopped to sit at a table in a little coffee shop they found.

"Ireland," Warren finally said. "We're in Ireland."

"How can you tell?" Eden asked curiously.

"The flag," he said, pointing. They must have reached the town shopping center because there were a lot of people going around to all the buildings or just talking in large groups of people. In the very center of the area was a large fountain and a flagpole. "We'll need to find an airport."

Eden nodded, stood up, and started to walk. Muttering to himself about still being tired, Warren got up to follow. Eden only stopped once to ask a local man where the airport was, then continued on without hesitation. They went past the center and came to where tall brick walls and houses formed a maze like patter out of the street. But Eden had no trouble taking the twists and turns as though she knew the layout by heart. Warren wondered if she was doing what Seth and told him about once, when he stole a unicorn horn from the centaurs. But he pushed all thoughts of home out of his head. The message from the Fairy Queen continued to dance in his head, only making things worse. He needed to focus.

Eden stopped suddenly at a slight noise. Warren hadn't done a good job of keeping up, so she was quite far ahead. She turned towards him, a look of concentration and anger pitted on her face. At the same time, many hands grasped Warren's arms and legs, lifting him off the ground and carrying him away. Warren struggled to break free, but he was outnumbered by five men in black. They threw him into a large vehicle and slammed the door shut just as Eden ran at them. By the time she was an arms' length from the van, they were already burning rubber and a moment later sped off.

The men blindfolded Warren and put a gag over his mouth. He felt the knapsack being torn off his shoulder and attempted to retrieve it, but his hands and feet were quickly restrained. There was no way out of it, so Warren resolved that being still was the best option. Eden's main orders had been to get Warren to Fablehaven _alive_, so he was fairly sure that she would find him before it was too late.

After a long while driving, the van stopped. Warren was carried out of the van and his feet were set free, but strong hands kept a firm grip on his shoulders.

"Walk," someone ordered roughly.

Warren did as they commanded and walked forward. He could tell that they were entering a building of some sort by the way the new location was heated and smelled of bathroom scents. He was walked down many hallways and up stairs until they stopped him. They removed the blindfold, gag, and restraints before leaving the room they had brought him to.

He didn't look to closely, but a once over told Warren that whoever the person in charge was belonged in a mafia movie. Everything was shiny and fancy like, and smelled of too much cologne. There was a man sitting lazily behind a large desk, smiling at Warren as though he was fair game. Warren knew what the smart option was and walked forward to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk.

"Our Mr. Sphinx, sir, must be psychic," the man said in a heavy Irish accent. "I told him that no one would be coming down that road, nobody's ever come before, but then you did. Just like he told me you would. So he was tellin' me that my job would be easy then. Take whoever comes from the road and bring them to him, but now I'm curious. Where did you come from, lad? What's in the field that has the Sphinx so eager?"

"I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you, sir," Warren said smoothly, "but I was just sky diving. We missed our target and that field was as close to civilization as we could get to. Unfortunately, all our gear was wrecked, so we had to leave it there—"

"The Sphinx also said that anyone who came through would be a terrible liar," he said, grinning viciously. He leaned forward to stare Warren in the eyes. "Why don't you explain to me _exactly_ what's going on here, or I'll start by taking one of your ears, since it's doing you no good."

Warren smiled at the challenge and relaxed further into the chair. "Are you human, or are you one of them?"

The man frowned slightly, but barely noticeably.

"Ah, human," Warren said. "So how's about this: I'll tell you everything I know about the Sphinx and the world we live in and you let me go. If you need any proof, just look into the bag your men stole from me. Everything will start to make sense."

"Alright, I'm interested," said the man leaning back.

"Fairies, demons, half creatures, magic…it's all real. All of those little stories your mother told you to make you fall asleep are real. Now, we're not totally sure just _what_ the Sphinx is, but he is no human. We've been guessing that he's been planning to release the demons for many years now—its all been thought out so well. But it only took him the small mistake of underestimating my family and what they would do to stay alive. They will be the ones who will drag him to his knees, just you watch. There is a girl—Kendra. Sweet kid, very lovable. She nearly killed herself trying to rescue her family and now she is forever tainted with magic. The same for her brother, Seth. Except, he has magic on the complete opposite spectrum, so they cancel each other out. But they don't know how far it all goes, which is another story completely, but—"

There was suddenly a shout outside and the man stood up. Warren took the chance to grab the letter opener across the desk and hold it at the man's throat.

"So that was your plan?" the man said. "Tell me a fairy tale while your girlfriend catches up, is that it?"

Warren shrugged innocently. "I improvise as I go."

He moved quickly, drawing the blade back just enough so that he could stab it into the man's heart. He fell forward onto the desk as Warren took a step back. He bowed his head just as the door burst open and Eden ran into the room.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"You interrupted my story," Warren said. "Now he'll never know!"

"You were going to tell him the secrets of the world which you sore to protect?" she hissed angrily.

"I knew he was going to eventually die anyway, but I needed someone to vent to. It's a human thing—you wouldn't understand."

Warren noticed and expression cross Eden's face, almost like sadness or pain, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by seriousness. "We need to leave, _now_."

Warren nodded his agreement as Eden handed him the knapsack. Then she led the way out of the building, resuming her quickened pace. Warren had to struggle to keep his eyes forward. It seemed as though Eden had redecorated the building with the blood of all the men who had abducted him. There were bodies scattered everywhere, dead or bleeding out. He tried not to wonder if Eden felt any remorse for what she had done or just treated human life like that of ants. He pushed such thoughts out of his head and focused on keeping pace, but it was difficult when he could see the red splatters all over the one he was following.

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